surf
part of speech
noun (surf — uncountable); verb (surf, surfs, surfed, surfing)
meaning for a pupil
1) The white foamy waves that break on the shore. tree →
2) To ride on waves standing or lying on a board. tree →
3) (in «surf the internet / web») To look quickly from one website to another. tree →
4) (informal, in «channel-surf») To change TV channels quickly. tree →
sense in the lessons
In Australia, New Zealand, the US and parts of the UK and Ireland, surfing is a big beach sport; beaches have «surf lifesavers» and flags showing where it is safe to swim. In science and geography, waves and surf shape the coast. Online, «surf the web» means browse. Phrases: «surf's up», «surf the internet», «surf lifesaving», «go surfing», «heavy surf».
examples
- We watched the surf crashing on the rocks. tree →
- My cousin learnt to surf at Bondi Beach. tree →
- The surf was too rough for swimming today. tree →
- I surfed the internet to find facts about whales. tree →
- Surf lifesavers keep people safe at the beach. tree →
- Always swim between the red and yellow flags when the surf is up. tree →
- They surfed for three hours in the morning. tree →
- It’s me,” said Kotick, bobbing in the surf and looking like a little white slug. tree →
note
«Surf» (waves) sounds like «serf» (a poor farm worker in the past). As waves, «surf» is uncountable: «the surf is high». Safety: big surf can have rips (strong currents); swim only where lifeguards are and between the flags.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «surf» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.